Sing, Muse, of Achilles’ anger and its devastation…and of the will of Zeus which was accomplished. The opening lines of Homer’s epic The Iliad say it all. In these first few words, the Poet betrays his purpose and unpacks the deepest meaning of his work. He begins with a prayer to his Muse, the goddess … Read more
Data released recently by the CDC showed that 78% of those who died, were hospitalized, or placed on a ventilator due to a COVID-19 infection were overweight or obese, making it among the most deadly risk factors. Health experts have always known that being overweight is unhealthy, but we’ve become scared to hold up a … Read more
“I’ve thought…I suppose it’s a form of comedy that Catholicism is as sane as people get…it’s gothic, it’s dark, it has the same aesthetic in some sense as a horror film, and I’m not being…I’m not saying something denigrating by that; it is part of its strange mystery, and all that strangeness is necessary because … Read more
It is no secret that it is hard for a reverent Catholic to find a beautiful Mass. The desire for reverence is not the desire for a valid Mass, for the Mass—however obnoxious or orderly—is valid thanks to the Grace of God. However, the spirit of reverence adds to the power and majesty of the … Read more
“If young people are educated properly, we have moral order; if not, vice and disorder prevail. Religion alone can initiate and achieve a true education.” St. John Bosco’s understanding of Catholic education seems far from the prevailing view in any western school today. Sadly, this same observation applies equally to the vast majority of schools … Read more
One of the ironic things about my diploma from Princeton is that it is written in a language that almost none of the graduates understand: Latin. It confers upon me the degree of Artium baccalaureus, literally, crowned with bay leaves for knowledge of the arts. Since most college graduates write badly, if they write at … Read more
It should be clear by now that truth is not a Woke value. Those on the far-left side of the political spectrum have made certain claims in recent years, including: maintaining slavery was the primary reason for the founding of our nation; innocent, unarmed blacks are being shot down by police with impunity in great … Read more
Gina Carano is currently the darling of conservative media. While I am in agreement that her canceling was another example of the totalitarian Left’s cultural cleansing, I also have to admit that I wasn’t a huge fan of her character on “The Mandalorian.” Don’t get me wrong; she did an excellent job at acting the … Read more
Challenged by Diomedes on the battlefield of Troy, Glaucus, in the glorious custom of the ancient epic, declares his identity with eloquent thunder before engaging in combat with an enemy he respects enough to offer an introduction of himself. Nothing could be further in attitude—that is, further from honor and courtesy—than the nameless, but no … Read more
Although it was 16 years ago, I remember it vividly. I was driving down I-270 in Maryland toward Washington, DC, listening to Rush Limbaugh on the radio. This was unusual for me, because my work didn’t allow me to be driving very often during his noon–3 PM time slot. At this time the Terri Shiavo … Read more
My wife and I are both huge Star Wars fans, and naturally we have passed our passion for Star Wars down to our boys. So, when Disney+ announced that it was launching a new Star Wars television series titled The Mandalorian, we were excited. After all, a series about a bounty hunter that looked like … Read more
On February 3, the Institute for Family Studies (IFS) reported research regarding American birth rates in the decade 2009-19. The results are not good. Even if we take 2008 as a baseline, the ensuing decade showed an implosion in birth rates. If birth rates had only stayed where they were in 2008 (remember, birth rates … Read more
“I wanted to let you know about some of our ads that have recently been pulled on Facebook,” wrote my publicist at TAN Books in an email, “including all of our ads for The Devil and Karl Marx.” That would be my book: The Devil and Karl Marx. It has sold thousands of copies, is … Read more
Last week, many small investors made a fortune from their investments in GameStop, a video game retailer that—by most accounts—is becoming obsolete. Due to a collective enthusiasm generated in the subreddit community r/wallstreetbets, GameStop shares went from below $3 to over $300 in less than a year. Because of the success of GameStop, investors are … Read more
The assault against Western culture and civilization is moving full steam ahead. Even our most long-standing and cherished of writers, Homer, is being banned. The usual gobbledygook critiques are thrown out at him: sexist, toxic masculinity, and white male! Such rage, oh the irony, completely misses the real majesty and endurance of Homer. In a … Read more
Human beings do not flourish in isolation. Politics, racial tensions, and a host of other social maladies have been the ostensible reason for riots and chaos in this past year. However, dismissing the deleterious effects of social distancing, enforced isolation, and long quarantines on the human psyche seems blind at best—and dangerously foolish at worst—in … Read more
Philip Dick wrote Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? in 1968, but the novel is set in January 2021. The movie Blade Runner was based on some of the concepts in the novel, but the book’s plot is different and its themes more complex. One of the key themes of the novel is the human … Read more
I have to admit it: I’m an old white guy. In fact, I am a privileged old white guy. To be honest, I am a very privileged old white guy. I grew up in a middle class home with a successful businessman for a father. My mom was a “homemaker.” Mom and Dad both considered … Read more
Many years ago, in an article for Touchstone called, “A Requiem for Friendship,” I wrote that the public acceptance of homosexuality would cast suspicion on physical expressions of friendship among males, and would make it more difficult for boys to forge strong friendships in the first place, especially if such boys were shy, or not … Read more
On January 8, 2021, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey banned President Donald J. Trump for life. The opportunity for virtue signaling proved irresistible to Dorsey. After the debacle in the Capitol on January 6, Dorsey did what he had been wanting to do for years: cleansed his platform of dissent. Democracy means that the Democrats say … Read more
